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Tennis can be traced as far back as the ancient Greek game of sphairistike, and is mentioned in literature as far back as the middle ages in The Second Shepherds' Play, in which shepherds gave three gifts, including a tennis ball, to the newborn Christ. Another mention came in the late 16th century, when William Shakespeare mentions "tennis balles" in his play Henry V, when a basket of them is given to King Henry as a mockery of his youth and playfulness.
Source: Wikipedia
In 1938, Donald Budge became the first person to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during the same calendar year and won six consecutive Grand Slam singles titles in 1938 and 1939. Tilden called Budge "the finest player 365 days a year that ever lived."[35] And in his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer said that, based on consistent play, Budge was the greatest player ever.
Source: Wikipedia
Wimbledon (2004): directed by Richard Loncraine and starring Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst. Tagline: She's the golden girl. He's the longshot. It's a match made in... Plot outline: A pro tennis player has lost his ambition and has fallen in rank to 119. Fortunately for him, he meets a young player on the women's circuit who helps him recapture his focus for Wimbledon.
Source: IMDb
In 1977 Guillermo Vilas of Argentina won 16 titles, which is the most ever won in a single year. Next best are: Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia), who won 15 titles in 1982, and Ilie Nastase (Romenia) and Jimmy Connors (USA), who both won 14 titles, in 1973 and 1974 respectively.
Source: Wikipedia
Cat gut is the name applied to cord of great toughness and tenacity prepared from the intestines of the sheep or goat, or occasionally from those of the hog, horse, mule, pig, and donkey. Those of the cat are not employed, and therefore it is supposed that the word is properly kitgut ("violin string"), kit meaning "fiddle," and that the present form has arisen through confusion with kit = cat. Another explanation of the origin of the cat in catgut is that it is an abbreviation for cattle which originally denoted not only cows, but all types of livestock. Catgut was regularly used for stringing tennis racquets in the past, though its use has diminished now with only one company, Babolat, continuing to use it in tennis racquets. The substance is used for the strings of harps, violins, and viols, as well as other stringed musical instruments, for hanging the weights of clocks, for bow-strings, and for suturing wounds in surgery.
Source: Wikipedia
Anyone for Tennis by Eric Clapton
See lyrics
Strawberries and cream (as served at Wimbledon)
See recipe
The following are all tennis-related (an amusing use of a word or phrase which has several meanings or which sounds like another word):
During a tennis match one player gave the other a backhanded compliment.
When the tennis-playing judge got sued, the ball was in his court.
When there's a sale on tennis balls it's first come, first serve.
A tennis match organizer had a smashing success and a net profit.
A waiter who played tennis was great at serving.
Source: http://punoftheday.com/
If you can react the same way to winning and losing, that's a big accomplishment. That quality is important because it stays with you the rest of your life, and there's going to be a life after tennis that's a lot longer than your tennis life. (Chris Evert Lloyd)
Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else. (Joseph Heller)
When I was 40, my doctor advised me that a man in his 40s shouldn't play tennis. I heeded his advice carefully and could hardly wait until I reached 50 to start again. (Hugo L. Black)
Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down. (Robert Frost)
Source: Creative Quotations
Fastest serves
"'Big Bill' Tilden, in 1931, was credited with 163.3 mph 262.8 km/h. Lester Stoefen, American also, was credited with 131 mph 211 km/h in the 1930s. In the post-war game Jack Kramer was accorded 110 mph 177 km/h and Richard Gonzales 112 mph 180 km/h." (Tingay, Lance. The Book of Tennis Facts and Feats. Harcourt Brace, 1984: 19.)
"Greg Rusedski (GB) achieved a record serve of 149 m.p.h during the ATP Champions' Cup at Indian Wells, California, USA, on March 14 1998. The fastest server in the women's game is Venus Williams (USA), who recorded a serve of 127.4 mph during the European Indoor Championships at Zurich, Switzerland, on Oct. 16, 1998." (Guinness World Records. GRW, 2001.)
Source: http://hypertextbook.com
Tennis elbow is a condition where the outer part of the elbow becomes painful and tender, usually as a result of a specific strain or overuse. Although it is called "tennis elbow", it should be noted that it is by no means restricted to tennis players. If you hyperextend your elbow doing any type of sports (wrestling, hockey, football, boxing, baseball, etc.) this may be tennis elbow. Anyone who does a lot of work involving lifting at the elbow or repetitive movements at the wrist is susceptible to the get tennis elbow. The condition was first described in 1883.
Source: Wikipedia
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